Red, white and blue

...what does it mean to you?*

And, by the way that lyric refers not to the red, white and blue of Old Glory, the Battle Flag, or Tennessee's Tri-Star banner - it's the Union Jack.

It's the very Union Jack that Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer and pretender to the leadership of the Labour party and premiership of the UK, wants all good Brits to wrap themselves in.

Gordo announced this week that he wants a British National Day, a return to good patriotism and to reclaim the flag from such nasties as the British National Party (BNP).

Give me a day off, I'll celebrate
On the issue of a British national day, I'm all for it if it means that we get another day off. And can I suggest that it's in Mid-Summer or somewhere between September and Christmas. These are currently holiday dry spots and I could use a break in there. I'd happily give up one of the two May bank holidays in exchange, but better yet - give us an extra day off.

One of the things that make the 4th of July work well in the US is that it's almost always good BBQ weather, dry and fine, if perhaps sometimes too hot. Give us a summer holiday. Although, even mid-summer doesn't provide reliable BBQ weather. I've spent that past two Independence Days shivering on a blanket in Hyde Park and hoping that the leaden sky wouldn't drench us.


A return to "good" patriotism and flag waving
Good luck with that Mr Brown. As this English blogger Bishop Hill points out, the Scots and the Welsh have never been above a little flag waving, but the English have been a little more reserved. And to add to the difficulty, there really isn't a cohesive idea of Britishisness. Each part of the United Kingdom maintains a separate national identity, along with separate football (soccer) leagues, separate flags, and separate national football teams. Sure, they all have the same passport and pay taxes to the same national Government in Whitehall, but in many respects England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are separate countries. I found this difficult to get my head around when I first got here.

Despite Bishop Hill's protestations that the English aren't into the patriotism thing, I think there has been an increase in patriotism since I've been living here (coincidence, I'm sure). In 2002, the Queen celebrated her Golden Jubilee (and we got an extra day off!), the English had good chances in the World Cup and beat Argentina in a grudge match that made that Bama victory over UT look paltry, and the weather was good for Wimbledon where 2 British/English players were set to do well. Oh yeah, and 9-11 happened the autumn before and Tony Blair was brilliant as he declared the Britain, a warrior nation once more, would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the US in the fight against terror. Flags were waved, people were happy. (We, too, hung a British flag from our balcony in contravention of our apartment complex rules, and for which our neighbours applauded us.)

But I can't say that this resurgence in patriotism and pride has led to a greater sense of British nationalism - far more, it has led to greater pride in being English. Since the summer of 2002, I've seen far more English flags, St.George's Day (patron saint of England) is more often celebrated, and I've had a greater sense of what it means to be English, though not how one can become English.

Growing English nationalism is something Gordon Brown, a Scot, probably doesn't want to foster. And some English, may see his promotion of Britishness as a way to usurp growing English pride and resent it. Hence this rant from the ProgCon blog and this image - which shows the British flag - with core English element - the cross of St George - missing.










__________
*from, rather ironically, the song There'll Always Be an England, since the English flag sports merely red and white.

Red, white and blue; what does it mean to you?
Surely you're proud, shout it aloud,
"Britons, awake!"
The empire too, we can depend on you.
Freedom remains. These are the chains
Nothing can break.

There'll always be an England,
And England shall be free
If England means as much to you
As England means to me.